Top 8 Anime from the 1980s

[Hayden_Russell]

Top 8 Anime from the 1980s

The 1980s were a great time for anime, especially if you're a fan for over the top action. Let's take a look at this evolutionary age of animation! Have some special memories of a 1980s anime? Did we miss your favorite? Sound off in the comments!

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[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Goddamn, I forgot how awesome Ronin Warriors is since it's been a long time since I've seen that anime.

Kinda got weird towards the end, but still badass. Voltron too.

 

[COMaestro]

Aw, no Vampire Hunter D? One of the first anime I saw and still one of the best of the time.

 

[infohippie]

There were so many amazing anime series in the eighties, and yet you chose junk like these? Okay, the Ghibli films were a good choice, but the rest? Boring shonen trash. Why wouldn't you have included Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, Bubblegum Crisis, or Macross? So many great and highly influential shows you could have introduced people to.

 

[JCAll]

Ronin Warriors was a great show, though I'm pretty sure it wasn't released in English until the mid 90s. Voltron is great too, though as I've gotten older I've been noticing the cracks editing. I get that some things wouldn't fly in the US at the time, but sometimes the editing is just bad. Also the voice acting is terrible, but it was terrible in the Japanese version too, I guess that was just part of the joke. But Voltron himself is still a god among mechs, and nothing was ever able to make him uncool. Including both mediocre sequels.

 

[Tanis]

I'm kind of amazed at how many of these I'd agree with you with, most of these 'Top #' lists tend to not jive with me.

Ronin Warriors, even after the 'dah hell' thing with the OVA or whatever happened, is an underrated gem.
Valley of the Wind, is in my Top 3 Ghibli movies.
Dragon Ball, well, it kicks DBZ/GT ass any day of the week.

I'd also like to give a shout out to RoboTech.
While the series it's made out of ARE better, it was the fist real 'Mech' series I saw.

I'd also say you could replace 'Neighbors' with the original 0079 Gundam.

 

[Fox12]

Valley of the Wind, is in my Top 3 Ghibli movies.

I just bought the monster sized manga books for half price, and holy cow, it's like a completely different story. Miyazaki is one crazy dude.

OT: I actually heard that anime classics like Speed Racer and Akira were almost totally forgotten in Japan. How strange. It was such a well made movie.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I'll admit I'd seen other anime previously but never caught onto it until I accidentally caught Akira on ye olde SciFi channel. It hooked me like a marlin and reeled me in... I immediately went to the Blockbuster Video down the street the next morning and rented every anime in their paltry collection...
Project Ako
Wicked City
Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
Akira again because it was awesome
Record of the Lodoss War
Vampire Hunter D

The pickings were few and far between then... sad really but I did venture up to a newly built Best Buy (back when they were modestly priced) and bought an armful of anime... and then at DragonCon after graduation I bought a hell of a lot more at various booths. I miss my VHS collection, but it did net me a good bit of cash when I was broke and hungry... about 3x what I paid for it actually. Glad I made friends with a collector and somehow got a ton of rare stuff at that convention. I just randomly bought stuff.

 

[Something Amyss]

Is it still controversial to call Voltron "anime?"

Ronin Warriors was a great show, though I'm pretty sure it wasn't released in English until the mid 90s. Voltron is great too, though as I've gotten older I've been noticing the cracks editing. I get that some things wouldn't fly in the US at the time, but sometimes the editing is just bad. Also the voice acting is terrible, but it was terrible in the Japanese version too, I guess that was just part of the joke. But Voltron himself is still a god among mechs, and nothing was ever able to make him uncool. Including both mediocre sequels.

In fairness, many of the editing issues were based on the mandates. No deaths, no blood, nothing "too Japanese," no religious iconography, no space dolphins....

 

[happyninja42]

Is it still controversial to call Voltron "anime?"

Ronin Warriors was a great show, though I'm pretty sure it wasn't released in English until the mid 90s. Voltron is great too, though as I've gotten older I've been noticing the cracks editing. I get that some things wouldn't fly in the US at the time, but sometimes the editing is just bad. Also the voice acting is terrible, but it was terrible in the Japanese version too, I guess that was just part of the joke. But Voltron himself is still a god among mechs, and nothing was ever able to make him uncool. Including both mediocre sequels.

In fairness, many of the editing issues were based on the mandates. No deaths, no blood, nothing "too Japanese," no religious iconography, no space dolphins....

I know right, I remember the days of the dreaded Anti Space Dolphin Defamation League's pogrom of the anime world, the blood ran ankle deep in the streets! It was bedlam I tell you!

 

[ccggenius12]

I remember watching Akira back in the '90s. I remember repeatedly wondering why it wasn't over yet.

So, we got one of these lists for the '90s, and one for the '80s. Next up, '70s?